Dave Lombardo - Why do you need 2 Kick Drums?? Slayer is the Answer.

When Slayer released their third record, 1986’s thrash-metal classic Reign in Blood, they defined the genre perfectly and crowned themselves the undisputed kings of speed.

Although lots have players may have taken this heavy style of drumming a little further Dave Lombado is the Godfather and one of the pioneers of this world.

Dave Lombardo (born February 16, 1965 in Havana, Cuba) is a heavy metal drummer best known for his work with American thrash metal band Slayer. He has performed with Slayer on six albums, including their 2006 release Christ Illusion, for which he received critical praise. Lombardo’s music career has spanned more than 25 years, during which he has been involved in the production of 29 commercial recordings spanning a number of major genres with bands such as Grip Inc., Fantômas and Testament in addition to Slayer.

Lombardo is known as an aggressive and influential heavy metal drummer; his use of the drums have been called “astonishingly innovative” and earned him the title “the godfather of double bass” from Drummer World. Over his career, he has had a significant influence on the metal scene, and has inspired many modern metal drummers.

Fantômas
In 1998, Lombardo joined a side project called Fantômas with former Faith No More vocalist Mike Patton. The band formed when Lombardo attended a Faith No More concert and was approached by Patton concerning his “fusion” project (Grip Inc.). Several months later following the break-up of Faith No More, Lombardo received a phone call from Patton who asked if Lombardo would like to join his own fusion project. Lombardo accepted and replied “Fuck yeah!”

Lombardo asserted it was the hardest music he has played, saying “Slayer doesn’t even come close. Slayer was hard in a physical way, but this is physically demanding as well and requires ‘feeling’. (The kind of connectedness that demands) no clicking of sticks.” The drummer described the sound of Fantômas by stating ” if Picasso was a musician, this would be his music.”

Lombardo recorded drums on the Slayer albums South of Heaven (1988) and Seasons in the Abyss (1990), although in 1992, Lombardo left Slayer again due to conflicts with band members and his refusal to tour. He desired to witness the birth of his first child and gave the band members nine months notice of his wife’s pregnancy and said he would be unable to tour in September. He received a phone call from Kerry King; “Dave, big shows comin’ up in September…” and refused the offer, although the band members said it would be detrimental to their career if they did not. In a 1998 interview Lombardo stated; “I still hear shit. Even to this day I hear echoes of stuff Kerry says and Kerry was the only one I ever had a problem with….”

Return to Slayer
Ten years after departing from Slayer, Lombardo received a phone call from Slayer, who asked if he would like to perform a few shows.Slayer guitarist Hanneman wanted him to return, while Lombardo believed King had his reservations following his negative review of Lombardo playing with Testament. Initially, King did not think of Lombardo as a candidate and believed Lombardo would not be able to perform to a satisfactory level. However, King was “blown away” by Lombardo in rehearsals, stating “he’s got the feet and he’s got the hands, he’s not missing a step.

Lombardo accepted to resume drumming duties and toured with Slayer as part of Ozzfest, H82k2, Summer Tour, and the 2004 Download Festival. While preparing for the Download Festival in England, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich was hospitalized for a mysterious illness. Metallica’s vocalist James Hetfield searched for volunteers to replace Ulrich; Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison and Lombardo volunteered. Lombardo performed the songs “Battery” and “The Four Horsemen“.

Don Kaye of Blabbermouth praised Lombardo. Kaye wrote, “One thing’s for sure: Lombardo’s influence on this band is absolutely undeniable. With no disrespect to Paul Bostaph, a fine drummer (and Jon Dette, who also did some work with the group in the mid-Nineties), Lombardo is simply essential to the Slayer sound. He is one of metal’s all-around best drummers, perhaps the very best in the field of thrash /speed metal, and his power, style, and chops — not to mention his intangible chemistry with the rest of the group and those amazing flying feet — bring Slayer’s overall performance, intensity and music to a higher level.”

Lombardo is known for his fast, aggressive style of play utilizing the double bass technique which has earned him the title “the godfather of double bass” by Drummerworld. Lombardo states his reasons for using two bass drums: “when you hit the bass drum the head is still resonating. When you hit it in the same place right after that you kinda get a ’slapback’ from the bass drum head hitting the other pedal. You’re not letting them breathe.” When playing the double bass, Lombardo uses the ‘heel-up’ technique and places his pedals on an angle. Additionally to him as an influence, Arch Enemy drummer Daniel Erlandsson feels Lombardo is “really tasteful in his playing, and doesn’t over play. Yeah, he’s pretty tasteful. He’s gifted with a groove that not many speed metal, or metal drummers generally, have.”

In response to an interview question, “How talented is Dave Lombardo?” King responded, “Have you ever seen the movie The Natural? That’s Dave. He doesn’t have to try to be good. He comes into the venue 10 or 15 minutes before we hit the stage and he doesn’t warm up. He just goes and does it, after me and Jeff [Hanneman, guitarist] have been warming up for like an hour.”

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